IC-NRLF 


SOb 


REPORT 


OF   THE 


MANUFACTURERS'   COMMITTEE 


OF 


The  Chamber  of  Commerce, 


OF 


PORTLAND,  OREGON, 


OX     THK 


BEET  SUGAR  INDUSTRY. 


THK  LKUIS  &  DRVDKN  PRINTING  COMPANY 
PORTLAND,  OR  KG  ON. 


^^  \- > ' '{<<wuw§ '  '<>? '&wwsy  ~  (-  ^  '^  ~ 


R  E  PO  R  T 


OF  THK 


MANUFACTURERS'   COMMITTEE 


The  Chamber  of  Commerce, 


OF 


PORTLAND,  OREGON 


ON    THE 


BEET  SUGAR  INDUSTRY. 


1891. 

THK  L,E\VIS  &  DRYDEN  PRINTING  COMPANY. 
PORTLAND,  OREGON. 


PORTLAND,  Oregon,  Feb.  7,  1891 

To  the  Portland  Chamber  of  Commerce: 

GENTLEMEN, — Your  Committee  on  Manufactures  report  upon 
the  communication  you  referred  to  them  relative  to  the  manu- 
facture of  beet  sugar  in  Oregon,  and  the  request  of  Mr.  Charles 
Grissen  in  same  communication.  Mr.  Grissen  is  a  resident  of 
McMinnville,  Oregon,  is  well  known  to  and  highly  recommended 
by  many  of  our  leading  merchants,  and  requests  that  this  Chamber 
give  him  a  general  letter  of  introduction  to  use  upon  his  visit  to 
Germany,  where  he  contemplates  going  soon,  and  such  financial 
aid  as  in  their  judgment  this  Chamber  may  give  him,  all  aid  so 
furnished  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  information 
abroad  upon  the  beet  sugar  industry  there,  and  the  possible 
future  introduction  and  cultivation  of  the  sugar  beet  in  Oregon 
and  its  manufacture  into  sugar.  Your  committee,  after  giving 
consideration  to  many  facts  upon  this  industry,  which  make  part 
of  this  report,  and  the  possible  aid  that  Mr.  Grissen  may  be  able 
to  give  our  state  by  the  obtainment  of  the  facts  that  he  purposes 
to  gather,  and  the  possibility  of  interesting  German  capitalists 
and  labor  in  that  industry  here,  are  constrained  to  ask  this 
Chamber  that  the  first  request  of  Mr.  Grissen  be  granted  and 
that  a  general  letter  of  introduction  be  furnished  him,  signed  by 
the  president  and  secretary,  under  seal.  Regarding  the  second 
request,  your  committee  cannot  recommend  that  an  appropri- 
ation of  money  be  made  for  this  purpose,  preferring  to  leave  to 
the  Chamber  further  action  in  this  matter,  if  by  them  deemed 
necessary.  Mr.  Grissen  proposes  further  to  interest  German 
manufacturers  of  beet  sugar  in  the  climate  and  soil  of  Western 
Oregon  and  its  adaptability  to  this  special  industry.  Having 
given  much  attention  to  this  subject,  he  well  maintains  that 
there  is  no  section  in  the  world  better  adapted  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  sugar  beet  than  our  Willamette  valley  and  the  coast  coun- 
ties, and  that  if  the  German  manufacturer  can  be  induced  to 
come  over  here,  investigate  through  experiment  for  himself  or 


M27695 


.  V    r  S*' :  \  *  4 

send  his  'representative  to';  do  so,  he  will  soon  be  induced  to 
interest  foreign  'capital  irf  this  manufacture  here.  Your  com- 
mittee have  given  this  matter  considerable  attention  since  it  was 
referred  to  them,  and  believe  Mr.  Grissen's  view  is  the  correct 
one.  From  comparisons  with  experiments  abroad  ours  are  very 
encouraging.  In  Europe,  where  for  the  past  seventy  years  the 
beet  sugar  manufacture  has  been  in  successful  operation  and 
where  for  the  past  one  hundred  and  forty  years  they  have  been 
experimenting  in  its  cultivation  and  manufacture,  the  present 
average  per  cent,  of  yield  of  sugar  from  the  beet  is  g}4  to  10  per 
cent.  In  Germany,  however,  where  this  industry  has  been 
carried  to  its  greatest  perfection,  the  per  cent,  for  season  of  1889- 
90,  according  to  German  tables,  was  12.55  Per  cent.  At  Al- 
varado,  California,  where  the  beet  sugar  industry  has  been 
carried  on  for  twenty  years  and  in  successful  and  profitable 
opperation  for  the  past  ten  years,  the  per  cent,  of  yield  is  10^ 
per  cent ;  at  Watsonville,  California,  according  to  report  to 
department  of  agriculture  for  season  of  1888-89,  from  a  produc- 
tion and  manufacture  of  over  14,000  tons  beets  with  an  average 
polarity  of  14.65,  the  per  cent  of  sugar  recovered  was  11.65  Per 
cent. 

In  Oregon,  Professor  Irish,  of  the  Agricultural  College  at 
Corvallis,  says  the  following  per  cent,  of  sugar  was  obtained  in 
beets  from  the  different  sections  of  the  state : 

Medford,  5.50  per  cent ;  The  Dalles,  8.40  per  cent.  ;  Beaver- 
ton,  8.50  per  cent.  ;  Corvallis,  8.41  per  cent.  ;  Oak  Ridge,  9.75 
per  cent;  West  Fall,  9.85  per  cent.  ;  Mink,  n.66  per  cent.  ; 
Fall  Creek,  10.15  per  cent.  ;  Oswego,  10.50  per  cent,  ;  Ashland, 
11.40  per  cent.  ;  Newberg,  n  per  cent.  ;  Independence  11.50  per 
cent.  ;  Athena,  11.75  Per  cent.  ;  Roseburg,  11.35  per  cent.  ;  Mil- 
waukee, 11.30  per  cent.  ;  Vale,  11.40  per  cent.  ;  Alsea,  12.65 
per  cent.  ;  Union,  13.90  per  cent.  ;  Woodburn,  13.75  Per  cent.  ; 
McCoy,  13.75  per  cent.  ;  Toledo,  16  per  cent. 

W.  S.  lyadd,  Esq.,  sent  samples  of  sugar  beets  raised  on  Koin 
Kempster  Farm,  three  miles  south  of  Portland,  to  Claus  Spreckels' 
beet  sugar  factory  in  Watsonville,  California,  for  analysis,  with 
the  result  of  10.30  per  cent,  sugar;  also  from  Koin  Cemetery 
Farm,  two  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Portland,  with  result  of 
12.40  per  cent.,  and  from  farm  at  Middleton,  14  miles  south  of 


5 

Portland,  with  result  of  13.40  per  cent.  The  highest  average 
is  1 6  per  cent.,  at  Toledo,  Oregon  ;  the  lowest  5^  per  cent.,  at 
Medford,  Oregon.  The  average  of  these  twenty-four  places  is 
11.24  Per  cent.  ;  of  the  highest  sixteen,  12.40  per  cent.  ;  of  the 
highest  eight,  13.45  per  cent.  ;  and  the  highest  five,  14.16  per 
cent.  The  Oregon  results  were  had  by  polarization.  Good 
beets  should  polarize  not  less  than  14  per  cent.  With  the  dis- 
semination and  use  among  our  farmers  of  knowledge  pertaining 
to  sugar  beet  culture,  this  per  cent,  should  be  increased  one-half 
as  much  more. 

The  Yaquina  Post,  published  at  Toledo,  Oregon,  where  the 
average  is  the  highest,  estimates  that  there  are  three  thousand 
acres  of  land  suited  for  sugar  beet  cultivation  within  a  radius  of 
three  miles  from  that  place  ;  that  much  of  this  land  has  been 
dyked  during  the  last  season  and  will  be  ready  to  cultivate  to 
beets  next  season,  some  of  which  has  produced  seventy-eight 
tons  of  sugar  beets  per  acre  before  dyking,  and,  which  it  is 
believed  will  produce  for  an  indefinite  term  of  years  from  fifty 
to  one  hundred  tons  of  beets  per  acre,  and  which  will  yield  from 
15  to  20  per  cent,  of  saccharine. 

Mr.  Alisky,  who  returned  from  a  trip  to  Germany  a  short  time 
since,  informs  your  committee  that  after  investigating  this  sub- 
ject while  abroad  and  further  investigation  of  the  same  matter 
since  his  return  home,  he  is  well  satisfied  that  the  soil  and 
climate  of  Oregon  is  better  suited  to  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar 
beet  than  Germany  or  France.  He  says  that  the  highest  price 
for  sugar  in  Germany  is  four  cents,  and  at  that  price  a  bounty  is 
paid  to  the  government  upon  the  beet  produced  instead  as  here 
a  bounty  paid  to  the  producer  of  sugar  by  the  government  of  two 
cents  a  pound. 

Professor  Hilgard,  of  California,  in  his  Report,  volume  vi, 
Tenth  Census,  page  665,  says,  ' '  I  am  inclined  to  believe  we 
have  in  Washington  and  Oregon  soil  and  climate  favorable  to 
the  growth  of  the  sugar  beet  of  high  saccharine  strength.  The 
mildness  of  the  winter  is,  though  to  a  less  degree  than  in  Cali- 
fornia, favorable  to  the  season  of  manufacture.  With  a  wise 
and  careful  encouragement  of  the  industry,  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  saying  that  the  prospects  for  the  development  of  an 
indigenous  sugar  industry  in  the  extreme  Northwest  part  of  our 


country  are  decidedly  bright,  and  it  is  a  field  worthy  of  the 
attention  both  of  experimenters  and  capitalists. 

Dr.  McMurtrie,  who  has  made  a  careful  study  of  the  climatic 
conditions  of  the  United  States  favorable  to  the  production  of  the 
sugar  beet,  says  in  Report  No.  28,  to  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  that  the  section  of  the  United  States  most 
favorable  to  beet  root  culture  are  confined  to  the  North,  in- 
cluding New  England,  New  York,  a  narrow  band  south  of  the 
Lakes,  Michigan,  parts  of  Wisconsin,  Minnesota  and  Dakota. 
Here  the  line  of  the  southern  limit  passes  into  the  British  posses- 
sions and  enters  the  United  States  again  in  Washington  and 
crossing  Western  Oregon  passes  to  the  coast  to  the  extreme 
north  of  California. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Dyer,  of  the  Alvarado,  California,  beet  sugar  refinery 
and  factory,  which  factory  last  season  turned  out  over  three 
million  pounds  of  refined  sugar  at  a  cost  of  less  than  four  cents 
a  pound,  and  who  says  that  had  they  had  a  sufficient  supply  of 
beets  they  could  have  turned  out  over  five  million  pounds,  writes 
your  committee  that  the  beets  raised  in  Oregon  are  good.  He  has 
furnished  Professor  Irish,  of  the  State  Agriculture  experiment 
station  at  Corvallis,  Oregon,  and  others,  beet  seed  for  several 
years  past,  and  the  beets  are  richer  in  saccharine  than  in  Europe. 
The  same  gentleman,  in  an  article  published  in  the  Oregonian 
six  months  ago  adds  that  beets  can  be  produced  in  our  own  state 
at  actually  less  cost  than  in  Germany,  and  that  in  the  United 
States  there  is  more  land  suited  for  sugar  beet  culture  than  in 
France,  Germany  and  Austria  combined,  and  either  of  these 
counties  produce  enough  to  supply  the  United  States.  In  the 
same  article  he  says,  land  in  Oregon  will  be  increased  in  value 
by  beet  cultivation  not  less  than  $100  per  acre,  and  as  it  requires 
the  cultivation  of  three  thousand  acres  to  supply  the  quantity  of 
beets  necessary  to  run  a  plant  with  a  capacity  of  three  hundred 
tons  of  beets  per  day,  the  increased  value  of  this  land  will  amount 
to  the  cost  of  the  plant,  and  that  his  company  are  willing  to 
furnish  the  skilled  labor  to  construct  a  factory  and  the  technical 
skill  to  run  it  until  your  own  people  acquire  sufficient  knowledge 
to  do  so  for  a  reasonable  and  satisfactory  compensation. 

Mr.  Samuel  Sussman,  who  is  interested  with  Claus  Spreckels 
in  the  beet  sugar  factory  at  Watsonville,  California,  visited 


Portland  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  very  kindly  furnished  your  com- 
mittee facts  of  much  interest  on  this  question.  Mr.  Sussman 
confirms  what  has  already  been  said  that  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  soil  and  climate  of  Oregon  are  better 
adapted  to  the  sugar  beet  culture  than  those  of  Europe,  that  a 
larger  per  cent,  of  sugar  can  be  obtained  from  the  beet  here  than 
there,  that  our  seasons  for  beet  culture  and  manufacture  are 
much  longer  and  more  favorable,  and  adds  that  capital  will  be 
forthcoming  to  take  hold  of  this  matter  in  Oregon  as  soon  as  our 
farmers  demonstrate  that  they  can  and  will  pay  attention  to 
sugar  beet  cultivation,  raise  beets  of  the  requisite  saccharine 
strength,  and  under  contract  agree  to  raise  a  quantity  for  a  term 
of  years  suincent  to  justify  the  erection  of  a  plant  with  a  capacity 
for  using  about  four  hundred  tons  beets  per  day,  which  will  cost 
about  $300,000.  Man}-  other  authorities  could  be  cited  who 
have  given  this  matter  particular  attention  upon  its  adaptability 
to  Oregon,  and  all  agree  that  if  the  attention  of  our  farmers  and 
capitalists,  and  particularly  the  farmer,  will  be  given  to  this 
question,  the  result  will  unquestionably  be  a  success.  With  such 
testimonials  of  the  favorable  situation  in  Western  Oregon  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  sugar  beet,  this  Board  have  strong  reasons  for 
assisting,  so  far  as  it  can,  anything  leading  towards  success  in  this 
direction.  The  result  of  the  beet  root  sugar  industry  in  Europe 
is  wonderful  to  contemplate.  Its  value  in  production  alone  in 
dollars  amounting  to  $385,840,000.  In  Germany,  which  is  the 
chief  sugar-producing  and  largest  exporting  country  in  the  world, 
and  which  paid  an  export  bounty  on  beet  sugar  in  1889  of 
$9,000,000,  has  three  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  acres  in 
sugar  beets.  There  are  six  hundred  and  thirty-seven  factories, 
using  13,400,000  tons  of  beets  and  producing  1,260,000  tons  raw 
sugar  per  annum,  one-third  of  all  the  beet  sugar  and  one-fourth 
of  all  sugars  produced  in  the  world.  In  France  there  are  552 
beet  sugar  factories.  They  turn  out  775,000  long  tons  sugar, 
worth  over  eighty  millions  of  dollars,  and  give  employment  to 
60,000  persons  besides  those  in  the  field.  In  Austria-Hungary 
there  are  245  factories  with  a  production  of  750,000  tons ;  Rus- 
sia 225  with  a  production  of  475,000  tons  ;  Belgium  200  with  a 
production  of  200,000  tons  ;  Holland  32  with  a  production  of 
60,000  tons  ;  for  the  rest  of  Europe,  in  Denmark  2,  Sweden  4  and ' 


Italy  3,  making  1,853  beet  sugar  factories  in  Europe,  with  a  total 
of  beet  sugar  production  of  3,600,000  tons,  or  ^  of  the  total  of 
all  kinds  of  sugar  produced  throughout  the  world. 

In  the  United  States  the  comparison  is  small.  The  profitable 
cultivation  and  manufacture  of  beet  sugar  is  an  event  of  the  past 
few  years.  Since  1830,  when  the  first  beet  sugar  enterprise 
started  in  Philadelphia,  until  a  few  years  ago,  this  industry  in 
the  United  States  has  been  an  experimental  one.  Now,  however, 
enough  is  known  of  the  climate,  soil  and  machinery  required, 
to  make,  under  favorable  conditions,  success  in  this  country 
assured.  The  greatest  success  has  been  in  California.  There 
the  average  yield  of  the  soil  is  about  fifteen  tons  of  beets  to  the 
acre.  The  price  is  $4.50  per  ton  of  beets  delivered  at  the  door 
of  the  factory.  The  cost  of  cultivation  per  acre  is  from  $20  to 
$23,  or  a  net  profit  there  to  the  farmer  of  $44.50  per  acre.  The 
Alvarado  company,  as  already  stated,  turned  out  over  three 
million  pounds  of  refined  sugar  last  year,  and  according  to  their 
last  report  to  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  page 
26,  bulletin  27,  made  a  net  profit  of  33  per  cent,  on  the  capital 
invested.  This  company  is  now  building  a  factory  in  Utah, 
which  will  be  in  operation  September  i,  1891.  The  machinery 
will  cost  $300,000,  and  the  capacity  of  the  works  will  be  eight 
million  pounds  of  sugar  each  season.  Providing  coal  is  not 
costing  over  $6  per  ton  and  beets  $4.50  per  ton,  this  company 
claim  they  should  be  able  to  make  refined  sugars  for  less  than 
3^  cents  per  pound. 

Claus  Spreckels,  who  has  a  controlling  interest  in  the  success- 
ful beet  sugar  factory  at  Watsonville,  California,  is  nearly  ready, 
your  committee  are  informed;  to  erect  another  beet  root  sugar 
factory  in  another  part  of  California.  The  Watsonville  factory 
is  an  investment  of  $500,000  ;  it  turned  out  during  the  short 
beet  season  of  60  days  last  year  forty  tons  raw  sugar  from  a 
consumption  of  400  tons  beets  per  day,  or  for  the  season  2,200 
short  tons  of  sugar.  If  run  for  the  full  season  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  days,  it  would  have  produced  4,400  tons  or  nearly 
5,000,000  pounds.  The  factory  is  so  built  that  now  with  an 
outlay  of  about  $50,000  this  capacity  can  be  increased  to  an 
output  of  7,500  tons,  strictly  number  one  raw  sugar,  if  run  the 
full  season  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  days,  and  then  sugar 


9 

should  be  produced  at  3  cents  per  pound  ;    the  present  price  is 
3^4  cents. 

At  Grand  Island,  Nebraska,  the  Oxnard  Beet  Sugar  Factory 
has  lately  started  with  a  capacity  of  350  tons  of  beets  per  day. 
At  Chino,  California,  San  Bernardino  county,  the  owner  of 
10,000  acres  of  beet-producing  soil  offered  a  bonus  of  2,000  acres 
to  responsible  parties  starting  a  factory  there.  A  factory  is  there 
being  built  with  expected  capacity  of  five  hundred  tons  beets 
daily.  It  is  expected  that  the  production  of  beet  sugar  in  the 
United  States  for  1891  will  be  at  least  double  what  it  was  in 
1 890,  when  its  estimated  total  product  was  between  five  thousand 
and  six  thousand  short  tons  or  about  12,000,000  pounds  against 
imports  last  year  of  beet  sugar  amounting  to  563, 206, 600  pounds, 
or  nearly  fifty  times  as  much  as  our  own  production.  Germany 
alone  shipped  us  512,100,240  pounds  with  a  valuation  of 
$25,600,512. 

The  best  cane  sugar  years  our  country  ever  had  were  1854, 
1859  and  1862,  when  the  domestic  yield  was,  in  1854,  495,156,000 
pounds;  1859,  427,962, 150  pounds  ;  in  1862,  528,321,500  pounds, 
or  in  these  years  about  three-fourths  of  the  imports,  while  for 
the  season  of  1889-90  they  were  but  275,000,000  pounds  against 
importations  of  all  sugars  the  same  year  of  2,632,4.47,440  pounds. 
This  country  will  never  be  able  to  raise  from  the  cane  sufficient 
sugar  to  satisfy  the  sweet  taste  of  her  people.  It  is  estimated  by 
one  of  our  heaviest  dealers  in  sugar  that  Portland  alone  con- 
sumes and  distributes  over  25,000,000  pounds  per  annum.  This 
is  nearly  all  cane  sugar,  although  a  little  beet  sugar  is  shipped 
here  from  California  and  sold  with  as  great  satisfaction  as  the 
other.  If  this  twenty-five  million  pounds  could  be  manufactured 
in  Oregon,  it  would  open  up  to  beet  sugar  cultivation  over  eight 
thousand  acres  of  land  ;  give  the  farmer  a  return  of  over  $550,000; 
establish  five  sugar  factories,  each  having  a  capacity  as  large  as 
the  one  now  in  Alvarado,  and  employ  several  hundred  persons 
besides  those  in  the  field.  There  is,  besides,  the  increased  value 
of  the  land  to  the  farmer.  According  to  Mr.  Dyer,  land  at 
Alvarado  will  rent,  cash  in  advance,  for  sufficient  to  pay  interest 
and  taxes  on  land  worth  $300  per  acre.  Another  correspondent 
from  the  same  place  writes  that  land  for  beet  growing  is  worth 
$350  per  acre.  Mr.  Oxnard,  a  large  American  producer  of  beet 


10 

sugar,  says  that  in  Europe  wherever  the  beet  is  grown  the  selling 
value  of  the  land  has  increased  in  the  most  noticeable  way  ; 
experiments  everywhere  in  sugar  beet  culture  prove  this,  and 
the  more  successful  the  Oregon  farmer  proves  to  be  in  knowing 
and  practicing  the  methods  of  plant  cultivating  and  harvesting 
the  beets,  which  are  matters  of  vital  importance,  the  higher  in 
value  will  be  the  beet  he  produce,  the  greater  will  be  the  increase 
in  the  value  of  his  land,  and  the  sooner  will  a  factor}7  be  built  to 
take  his  product.  The  best  substitute  yet  for  cane  sugar  is  sugar 
from  the  well-cultivated  sugar  beet.  According  to  Senator 
Paddock,  in  his  speech  before  the  United  States  Senate  last  year, 
the  beet  sugar  industry  is  more  important  than  any  twenty 
others  in  this  country.  This  beet  can  be  grown  to  better  ad- 
vantage in  our  state  than  in  any  other  section  of  the  United 
States. 

Its  cultivation  should  have  the  attention  and  encouragemnet 
of  every  Chamber  of  Commere  in  Oregon,  of  our  State  Board  of 
Commerce,  and  our  State  Legislature. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

BUHL  LAMBERSON, 
EDWARD  HUGHES, 
J.  FRANK  WATSON, 
L-  H.  PARKER, 
G.  A.  MOONKY, 
J..  E.  HASELTI>;K, 
ELLIS  G.  HUGHES. 


II 
CANE  SUGAR  YIELD,   1889-90. 

TONS. 

Cuba_  600,000 

Java--  310,000 

Manilla,  Cibu  and  Iloilo 180,000 

Brazil  -  150,000 

Louisiana    -  125,000 

Mauritinus    .  125,000 

Demerare , 125,000 

Sandwich  Islands 120,000 

Porto  Rico 70,000 

Trinidad  _  _  60,  ooo 

Barbadoes  __.  60,000 

British   India 60,000 

Guadeloupe  _.  50,000 

Martinique    .  40,000 

Egypt  _  35 » °oo 

Peru-  30,000 

Reunion  —  30,000 

Jamaica  -  30,000 

Antigua  and  St.  Kitts  __.  28,000 


Total  2,228,000 


BEET  SUGAR  YIELD,   1889-90. 


TONS. 


Germany  1,260,000 

Austria    __.  750,000 

France  .  775,000 

Russia    .  475,000 

Belgium    200,000 

Holland  __.  60,000 

Others   _                          .^ ..  80,000 


Total - 3,500,000 


TONS. 


Beet  —  -  3,500,000 

Cane   2,228,000 


Total     5,728,000 


Gaylamount 

Pamphlet 

Binder 

Gaylord  Bros.,  Inc. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
T.M.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat. Off. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


